Preeper convictions bring hope of witnesses in other cases

A collage of photographs of Melissa Dawn Peacock, who was killed in 2011 by brothers Dustan, below left, and Joshua Preeper. The two pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing the teen. Information in the case came to authorities via Nova Scotia’s Rewards for Unsolved Crimes Program.(ERIC WYNNE / Staff)

The man in charge of Nova Scotia’s Rewards for Unsolved Crimes Program hopes Wednesday’s convictions in two murder cases entices witnesses to other killings to break their silence.

“Obviously, we’re really pleased,” Roger Merrick, director of public safety at the Justice Department, said of the guilty pleas entered in a Halifax courtroom by brothers Dustan Joseph Preeper, 26, and Joshua Michael Preeper, 22.

“I think this, hopefully, has brought closure to the (Peacock) family. It shows that the program is a success. I think it shows that there are individuals that have information that are willing to assist the police.”

Both men received life sentences in Nova Scotia Supreme Court and are the first people convicted through information collected through the rewards program, which started in October 2006. Two other murder cases where charges were laid through the program have yet to go to trial.

Dustan Preeper was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Melissa Dawn Peacock, 20, and second-degree murder for killing Ben Hare, 26, and isn’t eligible for parole for 25 years. Joshua Preeper was convicted of second-degree murder in Peacock’s death and isn’t eligible for parole for 12 years.

In an interview Thursday, Merrick said his department will meet with the police to determine how much money will go to an unidentified informant that helped investigators. The maximum payout in the rewards programs is $150,000.

“I certainly understand that the individual would want to be paid out as quickly as possible,” he said. “For the benefit of the program, because obviously we’re trying to entice others to provide information, it would be to our benefit to move this along as quickly as possible.”

He said the amount of reward money will be based on how vital the information was to the investigation and how much risk the informant faced by providing it.

“It would be premature for me to contemplate what would be paid out,” he said. “I assuming that we will have our consultations with the police fairly quickly.”

He’s hopeful that the public will be told when the payment is made and how much money is rewarded because it would be good advertising for the program.

“I can’t see a whole lot of barriers. From a legal perspective, we’d be speaking with our lawyers regarding that.”

Merrick wouldn’t say much about the informant’s contributions to investigators.

“The individual gave us information which we turned over to police. Then the police used that information as part of their investigation. I can’t speak to what methods the police used.”

Evidence presented in court Wednesday indicated that an undercover police operator and a police agent gathered evidence against the brothers. Dustan Preeper took an undercover officer to the site where Peacock was buried and said he burnt his clothes and her wallet and phone. He also said he hit Hare in the head with a bat several times.

Crown attorney Peter Craig, one of two who prosecuted the case, said he could not discuss details of the informant’s contribution, but he did express support for the rewards program.

“Any information that ultimately leads to a successful prosecution is something that is going to be extremely valuable and welcomed by both police investigators and prosecutors.”

In an interview this May, Peacock’s mother Ruth Slauenwhite said she was very grateful to the informant — someone whose identity she did not know. She said learning what had happened hurt her family, but provided them with much-needed closure.

“No matter how much they get, it doesn’t compare to what they’ve done for us,” she said at the time.